


Here, in The Olive Garden Parking Lot?

by cerealbaths (timelordangel)



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, Drunk Link, Emotions, F/F, Kissing, M/M, Polyamory, but behind the scenes they're getting it on promise, the wives don't actually get to get it on here, this is about rhink, wives before guys am I right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22154605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelordangel/pseuds/cerealbaths
Summary: This time, the wives come out first.
Relationships: Christy Neal/Jessie McLaughlin, Christy Neal/Link Neal, Jessie McLaughlin/Rhett McLaughlin, Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 9
Kudos: 80





	Here, in The Olive Garden Parking Lot?

**Author's Note:**

> It might slightly add to the experience if you watch this 2 minute youtube video first. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYufeLaIggU&t

Link has been staring at his laptop blankly, as if his eyes are preoccupied trying to focus on the glass itself instead of the words in the google doc. 

“Link?” Rhett murmurs, his eyes stuck on the man uncharacteristically slumped over in his desk chair. 

Link spins toward the couch, unable to look at Rhett as he says, “Sorry, I missed that. What?” 

“You okay over there?” Rhett amends. 

Link frowns. “I got a weird text from Christy. It just says ‘Can we talk tonight?’” 

Rhett’s eyebrows draw together, his mouth falling open. “I got the same text from Jess twenty minutes ago.” He stands and puts his iPhone in Link’s face, Jessie’s conversation on the screen.

Link feels his heart sink and Rhett sees the panic before it’s even really settled in those blue eyes. 

“It’s nothing,” Rhett claps him on the shoulder, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “Tell her yes.”

Link blinks at his own phone on the desk. “I gotta go home.”

Rhett huffs, mild irritation toward a situation he doesn’t want to deal with bubbling up, and says, “No, you don’t. It’s not even three yet, just chill out. They have a new business idea, I almost guarantee it.”

Rhett’s phone buzzes against his thigh and Link’s eyes flicker to it. 

“What did she say?” Link asks roughly, leaving Rhett no room to deflect.

Rhett would rather chuck his phone out the window than answer that question, but he digs his phone out out his pocket and reads Jessie’s message aloud, “All four of us. Tonight, at the Neal’s.”

Link lets out a low, anxious groan. 

“It’s fine,” Rhett says again, his confidence wavering, “It’s fine.” 

-

Rhett picks up Jessie after work and they make the short drive in near-silence. 

“So,” Rhett caves as they pull into the Neal’s driveway. “Topic of conversation?”

Jessie purses her lips and unbuckles. “I don’t think it’s fair to give you a heads up.”

Rhett scoffs, “What the _fuck_ is that supposed to mean?” 

Jessie shrugs and exits the car, smoothing her shirt out as she pointedly doesn’t look at him.

“Jess! Come on!” Rhett jogs after her to the front door and is about to plead for more information when-

“Hi,” Christy smiles softly as she opens the front door, drawing Jessie in for a hug. 

Rhett squints and walks past her, on a hunt for his best friend. 

“Rhett,” Link breathes his name like a sigh of relief as he looks up from the kitchen sink. 

“Man, what the hell is going on?” Rhett whispers, eyes flickering toward the other end of the kitchen. “She wouldn’t cave when I asked in the car.” 

“Chris neither, she wouldn’t say a word,” Link shoves fingers through his hair, already matted from the day. “‘Cept that nobody’s dying.” 

“We’re fucked, I take back everything I said earlier- we’re fucked,” Rhett stresses.

“I’ve been through every stage of grief, brother. You have to ride that train alone, I’m just trying to reach acceptance at this point,” Link shrugs, picks up a glass that Rhett notices for the first time.

“‘S that whiskey?” Rhett asks.

“Yep. Get yourself some,” Link waves a hand to the bar cart right as the ladies walk in.

“Come on, let’s have a seat in the den,” Christy says softly. 

-

It’s a minute before anyone speaks. 

“Well, out with it,” Link, egged on by hours of anxiety and now liquor, throws out a hand, palm up. 

“I’ll start,” Jessie takes a steadying breath as time seems to stand still. “I’ll start by saying that we’ve been thinking about this for a long time. And we haven’t done anything about it, because we wanted to ask you guys what you thought first.”   


That… doesn’t help either of their anxieties. 

Rhett says silent, messes with the hem of his shirt and desperately eyes the bar cart in the corner of the room. 

“We’re all getting older and we’ve been, well, basically married to two people for the past twenty years,” Christy braves. “There have been months where I’ve seen Jessie more than I’ve seen you, honey. In the beginning, it was years.”

Link’s eyes burn suddenly, out of guilt, or fear, or- he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t speak.

“And in the beginning we were so busy with building our lives here, raising our families, making sure you two had the emotional and physical space to build your empire. And now that things have slowed down, well,” Jessie cuts in.

“We’ve spent time alone-”

“If you two don’t get to the point, you’re going to make Link cry,” Rhett cuts in harshly, watching the man beside him fight back tears. It works to get Link a little mad, a little less on the verge of a breakdown.

“We’re interested in each other in new ways, okay? You’ll always be my person, my husband, my everything, but if you’d consider letting us have a more physical relationship with each other, too, well, that would be very nice,” Christy says with an air of finality. 

The silence allows for the gears to twist in their minds, for fear to leak from Rhett and Link and soak into Jessie and Christy as they wait for a response. 

“You want to… have sex with each other?” Link stumbles through the words, trying to handle the tsunami of relief and confusion washing through him.

They nod.

“And you haven’t, right? Haven’t done anything yet?” Rhett looks up from his lap to confirm.

“No, we haven’t. Just talked about it, how we should ask,” Jessie nods.

Silence.

“Rhett, can I see you outside for a minute?” Link stands, walking toward the glass doors without looking back. 

“Well that was unexpected,” Rhett says once they’re on the back porch. 

“What in the world…” Link shakes his head. “I don’t know about this.”

“I don’t have an issue with it. S’not like she wants to run off with the milkman.” 

“What if they fall in love! Leave us!” Link throws up his hands.

“Pretty sure at this point they’re already closer than most couples, man. And there’s a chance they’ll experiment and figure out they don’t like it, too.”

“What if we asked to do this? Turn it back on them, see how they feel!” Link huffs.

“I bet they expected that to happen before this. Along with Stevie, right?” Rhett laughs, tries to diffuse the tension a little bit.

-

They walk back inside with a few questions planned. 

“The first one is this- if we decide it’s too much, or we get uncomfortable, will y’all stop?” Link paces across the living room once, socked heels turning smoothly on the hardwood floor.

“Yes, of course,” Christy nods. “We need everyone to be comfortable.”

“Second question,” Rhett says from where he’s draped on the sofa. “Are we telling the kids, or anyone else?”

“No, I don’t- I don’t think anyone else needs to know,” Jessie says softly, looking at Christy for agreement. 

Link seems more pleased at that and says, “How long have you been thinking about this, anyway?” 

“A year, maybe two,” Jessie says.

“And no foursomes in our future, right?” Rhett laughs inappropriately, earning a displeased look from Jessie and Link. Christy laughs.

“No, no. But if you two want to experiment with each other as well,” Christy shrugs, looks away like she used all of her bravery to suggest it at all. 

“Not happening,” Link rolls his eyes.

Rhett goes silent, letting the soft sting of that comment gather in his throat. Maybe it’s FOMO, maybe it’s something else, but for the first time in a long time he wishes Link would just be quiet.

“So this is happening, then?” Jessie must notice the light dim in Rhett’s eyes because she speaks quickly. “We have your blessing?”

Link hesitates, but nods. “I’m okay with this. I want you to be happy."

“I’m cool with it,” Rhett nods. 

If they were expecting to see the two women passionately kiss, or burst into joyful tears, they are let down. Their wives simply get up and start talking about the younger kids’ field trip next week.

“How do you feel?” Rhett asks once they’re alone on the sofa.

“Weird. I mean, I never realized they saw each other that way,” Link says.

Rhett thinks about that for a while, stealing the rest of Link’s whiskey in one long sip before answering. “I’m glad they asked us.”

Link snorts. “You think they would have gone behind our backs?”

Rhett frowns, shaking his head, “No, no. I don’t think they would have done it at all. I think that would have been worse, desiring something and ignoring it out of fear. I want authenticity.” 

Link just stares for a while at Rhett, his eyes low and his lips tight.

“I’m just a traveler,” Rhett breaks out a terrible english accent. “Searching for purity,”

“Why are you quoting  _ The Saint _ at me?” Link asks.

“And what are you searching for?” Rhett grins, finishing the quote.

-

So their wives fuck. This is a truth now, for them both.

And when Rhett makes love to Jessie two nights later, for the first time in twenty years he doesn’t know if he was the last person there, in her warmth, in her arms. He lies on the duvet and stares at the ceiling after, lets the sweat dry on his chest and watches the fan languidly rotate. 

Link goes to bed late that same night, long after Christy is fast asleep in their bed. He slides under the covers without waking her and stares at her face. He wants to wake her up and talk to her, his mind buzzing with questions he knows she won’t want to answer. He’s afraid now, if he speaks in his sleep, he might repeat the question pinging around in his tired brain.

_ “What are you searching for?”  _

-

Link doesn’t show up to work on time the following week, which disrupts the entire plan Jenna made for them. 

“I’ll just meet with the producers alone, it’s fine,” Rhett shrugs, apathetic to Link’s absence. “He just overslept or something.”

“You think the most neurotic man on the planet overslept until 10 am?” Jenna flicks her eyes to the ceiling and says, “If you’re fine doing it alone, then go ahead. I’ll tell Matt.” 

Rhett waits until she leaves the room to let out a worried huff. 

_ Where are you?  _ He texts Link. 

-

By lunchtime, he calls Christy. 

“Hey, do you know where your husband is?” Rhett says into the phone before Christy has a chance to speak.

“No, I assumed he was at work. I’m at your house,” Christy says, “he dropped me off on the way to the office.”

Rhett’s stomach drops, “Oh. Okay. Did he drop the boys off at school?” 

“Must have, the school didn’t call,” Christy doesn’t sound that worried, her voice distant and distracted, but Rhett feels nauseous. 

“I’ll call him again,” Rhett says, his voice flat. 

-

It’s a quarter past two when the Burbank Hilton calls Rhett. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi, this is Trey, from the Burbank Hilton. We have your friend here, Charles, he’s had too much to drink, wants you to come get him,” Trey says, irritation lacing his voice. 

Rhett breathes out heavily and says, “Right. Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll come get him.” 

He hangs up and yells for Jenna.

-

Jenna takes Rhett’s car back to the office, and Rhett takes Link’s car back to Link’s house. 

“If you puke, you puke in  _ your _ car,” Rhett closes the driver’s door too violently. 

Link mumbles something and leans against the window. “‘m sorry Rhett,”

“You better be. Skipping work to get drunk in a hotel bar, what the hell is wrong with you? Irresponsible asshole.” 

Link doubles over with a choked sob and Rhett briefly thinks he’s going to vomit. Deep down, he might care, but surface level Rhett wants him to lose it all over his new Audi.

“Where are we going?” Link slurs after a moment, perking up like he just remembered he was in a car.

“Your house, where you’re going to drink water, sober up, and try again tomorrow,” Rhett growls.

“You’re  _ so _ mad, so mad at me. But you picked me up,” Link grins, satisfied, messes with the buttons on his shirt. 

“What if someone had recognized you, man? Taken pictures? That would have been a train wreck for our brand. Jenna is the only one who knows about this, not even your wife.”

Link frowns and Rhett wonders if there’s any guilt settling into that thick head. 

“My wife. Is kissing your wife,” Link burst into giggles, disproving Rhett’s curiosity. “Christy asked me.”

“They asked both of us, that was the point,” Rhett says.

“No, no no. She asked me after in bed if I had ever kissed _you_ , Rhett,” Link stares at him from the passenger seat, icy eyes with a half lidded daze over them. 

“And you said no, we’ve never done that,” Rhett huffs, ignoring the tug in his chest. 

“Yeah, I said no. And she said we should. Just once, just to do it,” 

Rhett feels his heartbeat in the steering wheel, the electric car too quiet as it glides over the highway. “Okay.” 

“Okay? So we should?” Link’s still drunk, too drunk for the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, too drunk to have this conversation on the highway where Rhett can’t jump out of the window so should he choose. 

“Link,” Rhett bites his cheek. “Just be quiet, we’ll be home soon.” 

This seems to upset Link, but it quiets him, so Rhett doesn’t mind. When they pull into Link’s empty driveway twenty minutes later, Link stumbles out and pukes into the grass beside the azaleas. Rhett unlocks the door with his own key, beelining for the kitchen to get Link a tall glass of water. 

“Hey,” Link leans against the kitchen wall, “I was jus’ joshin’. I don’t wanna kiss you, Rhett. I don’t.” 

Rhett floods with irritation again, for reasons unknown, and shoves the glass of water in Link’s hands. “Drink.”

“Why’d you come get me?” Link slurs around the cup.

“Why were you there, Link?” Rhett counters.

“‘Cause I didn’t wanna see you,” Link says way too bluntly. 

“I’m gonna punch you in the face, drunkard. Go to bed,” Rhett snaps, “I’ll tell Christy to come babysit you.” 

“Noooo,” Link whines, “don’t tell her.”

“Give me one good reason.”

“This ain’t about her! ‘Sbout you, Rhett,” Link sniffs, setting the glass down noisily on the granite. “Been thinkin’ bout what she said. And you.” 

“You don’t want to kiss me,” Rhett backs into the counter across the kitchen. 

“I don’t,” Link repeats, but walks toward Rhett.

“You don’t,” Rhett confirms, pressing harder into the countertop, his breath catching in his throat as Link approaches.

“And yet,” Link murmurs, close enough for Rhett’s eyes to refocus on Link’s blown out pupils, close enough to reach out and put his hands on Rhett’s waist. 

“O-kay!” Rhett ducks out of the way, heartbeat thudding in his chest. “You smell downright flammable, why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower, don’t drown, and then go to bed! Okay?” He dodges eye contact, taking Link’s mostly full glass and topping it off in the sink just for something to occupy his hands.

Link says nothing, and when Rhett looks back, Link looks hurt.

“You don’t want it,” Link slurs.

“Link, you don’t want it either, okay? You’re drunk and dealing with emotions you’ve never had to deal with before because our wives are- our wives are hanging out more.” 

“S’not that! I told you,” Link hiccups, losing steam as he slouches against the counter. “It’s not about them. It’s ‘bout you, brother.”

Rhett loses his cool, shoves the glass of water into Link’s spare hand. “Link, you’re my best friend, I love you, I’m mad at you right now, and you’re wasted. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you want to kiss me or not, okay?”

“Fine, I get it. You don’t want it to happen.”

“Not like this,” Rhett says, slapping a hand over his mouth immediately and blinking hard. 

Link’s eyes widen the smallest amount, his fingers tightening over his water glass. They stare at one another in the warm light of the kitchen. 

“I’m sorry ‘m drunk, Rhett. I’m jus’ dealing with stuff. I’ll go to bed,” Link nods, immediately turning for the stairs. “Try ‘gain tomorrow.”

When he’s gone, Rhett picks up his phone and texts Christy. 

_ He’s fine, sick in bed. See you soon _ . -Rhett 

He'll take Link's car and let Christy drive it back. It takes a minute for the reply, three little dots appears and disappear, appear and disappear. 

_ Can you give us half an hour? _ \- Christy 

Rhett grits his teeth and swallows shallowly. His safe spaces compromised, his car back at the office, Rhett does the only thing he can think to do next: he sits on the sofa in his best friends house and turns on soccer.

-

Link picks Rhett up Friday morning, because Rhett’s car is still at the studio, and their subsequent conversation is the first time they have spoken since yesterday afternoon.

“You good?” Rhett grunts, tosses his backpack in the back seat and watches Link dodge eye contact.

“Yep. Thanks,” Link nods, dark circles topographically narrating under his eyes.

It takes a ten minutes in the car before Link speaks again. “Thanks for not telling Christy.”

“Not here to embarrass you,” Rhett says.

“I still told her, but I’m glad it came from me,” Link says. 

-

Rhett can’t focus. Maybe it’s because it’s Friday afternoon, maybe it’s because the air is too calm. Maybe because Rhett can’t help but wonder what Link really felt yesterday, why he went to a hotel bar instead of work at nine am. He shoves his chair back with his legs and stands frantically, pacing out the door in long strides. 

He finds Link at the espresso machine and grabs his arm in some desperate need for grounding.    
  
He could say anything. Anything. What he says is, 

“We need to talk about this,” without regard for the fact another crew member is in the kitchen. Sophie takes a step back and turns immediately, carrying away an empty mug like her life depends on it.

Link blinks slowly, diverts his attention when the espresso machine kicks to life. He nods once and Rhett lets go of his forearm slowly, without really wanting to. 

“Let me make this coffee and I’ll meet you in our office,” Link deadpans.

Rhett sits in the loft and tenses as he hears the door to their office squeal open before shutting roughly. 

“Up here,” Rhett says so quietly Link might have might have missed it all together had he not been expecting it.

-

“Link, I know it’s bothering you that Christy and Jessie are being intimate with each other, I think you need to talk about it,” Rhett says matter-of-factly as he sits crossed-legged on the floor. Link finished his coffee five minutes ago. 

Link presses his lips into a firm line and his fingers on his knees tighten. “Doesn’t bother me. Must be bothering you.” 

“Stop it, okay? Just stop it. I want to help you, Link,” Rhett pleads. 

He knows he has to be careful. Link is on the brink of shutting down, and when that happens Rhett might not get him back for hours, or days. “Come on, can’t live like this.” 

Link closes his eyes and leans into his hands. “I’m jealous.” 

“I mean, me too. It’s weird having Jessie share her attention with someone else,” Rhett breathes. “But hey, doesn’t it also make her attention a little more exciting?”

Link opens his eyes and glares at Rhett. “I’m jealous of Christy. I’m jealous that they’re on the same page.”

Rhett’s mouth falls open and his eyes contract. “I- I don’t understand.” 

“Rhett, I’m gonna need you to connect the dots a little. Don’t make me say it, man.” 

Rhett nods slowly and gives it his best attempt at verbal processing. “You’re jealous because Christy and Jessie are on the same page with their wants. You- you’re upset enough to get drunk during work hours over this. You-” 

“Been saying this whole time, Rhett, it’s not about them,” Link grimaces. 

“You said that drunk, though.” 

“And now I’m saying it sober. It’s about you,” Link says calmly. 

Rhett blinks. “Okay, I’ve got it. You’re worried about how I feel about-” 

“Rhett, you dingus, I wanna kiss  _ you _ !” Link roars, hitting Rhett on the leg half-heartedly. “I hadn’t thought about it until the whole thing with the wives happened, swear. But I got to thinking that it wasn’t fair that they got to experiment with the safety net of nothing changing, and I- I got so riled up about it I figured I probably just want to do it myself.”

Rhett starts laughing, slowly and then aggressively. He leans over, dramatically closing his eyes. Link grimaces at him. Rhett eases one eye open. 

“Well? Go for it.” 

Link closes his jaw and swallows thickly. “Fine.” He leans in, face inches from Rhett’s. Without warning, he retreats back and scrambles to his feet. Rhett’s eyes open. 

“I’m really getting mixed signals here, brother. You say you want a kiss and then bail,” Rhett stands somewhat awkwardly and grins at Link, unfazed. 

Link opens and shuts his mouth, blue eyes searching for answers. “I-”

Rhett steps forward and puts his palm flat to Link’s cheek before pressing their lips together chastely and then pulling away. “There we go,” Rhett murmurs, “Now we’ve done it.” 

Link, flushed, shrugs, “Okay. I was a little worried it would change something.”

“Did it?” Rhett asks sincerely.

Link shrugs again, says, “I guess not.” 

-

They have a double date on Sunday. 

Link scrapes the porcelain plate with his fork mindlessly until Christy taps his wrist in a request for him to stop. Link looks up dumbly, eyes wide and mouth downturned, as if just realizing where he is. 

“Is your food okay?” Christy asks, “You haven’t eaten much.”

Jessie puts a hand on Rhett’s thigh and Rhett feels a tingling obligation to warn her about what’s going to happen, about the blue eyed time bomb he’s staring down from across the table. 

“Rhett and I kissed,” Link says with the fork still in his hand, his voice changing pitch in every way possible before everyone at the table goes silent. “On Friday.” 

Boom. 

Rhett can see Jessie in his peripheral, knows everything she might want to say.

_ Well, we did say that was okay.  _

_ Did you like it?  _

_ Are you two a thing now as well? _

_ Was this because you’re mad at us?  _

_ Are you two mad at each other now?  _

_ Are you going to kiss again? _

All Jessie says is, “He’s a good kisser.” 

Rhett grins.

Christy says, “I still can’t believe you didn’t try anything in college.” 

They all laugh, except Link. Link nods blindly, like he doesn’t know exactly what he’s agreeing to. The fog in his eyes unnerves Rhett.

Outside the restaurant, on the sidewalk surrounding the parking lot, wet from the sunset-timed sprinklers shifting their way over deep orange marigolds, Rhett hangs back with Link as the ladies walk ahead. 

“Hey,” Rhett punches him in the arm. “What’s wrong?” 

Link shrugs. “I felt like it was a camera kiss.”

“A camera kiss?”

“A kiss for the cameras. I didn’t really put anything into it, it’s not fair,” Link stops walking. 

“I was happy for the lack of putting anything into it,” Rhett laughs, reaches out to encourage Link to resume walking. He doesn’t.

“I want a re-do. Just once more.” Link crosses his arms, making Rhett finally pause alongside him.

“Here? In the Olive Garden parking lot?” Rhett exaggerates a sigh. “Fine, but this time  _ you’re _ kissing me.”   
  
Link starts to take a step forward and Rhett turns and starts racing toward the car. “Gotta catch me first!” 

“HEY!” Link yells, dashing after him, breaking out into a grin as Rhett weaves into a line of parked cars.

Rhett barks a laugh from the darkness, prompting Link to see him just before he ducks behind a giant white SUV. 

“Stop!” Link pants a laugh as he puts a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. “I’m winded, man.”

Rhett laughs as Link realizes that they’re secluded now and they have at best sixty seconds before one of their wives starts looking for them. Link takes a deep breath and uses the slight adrenaline and Rhett’s lapel to drag him down into a kiss. 

This time, it’s slower, warmer. Link parts his lips slightly and lets Rhett’s beard tickle his face. It’s startling, to see it this close. It’s a second before he pulls away, a little breathless from more than the sprint. 

Rhett stares at him, his mouth still open. “Stage kiss?” 

Link shakes his head ‘no’, clearing his throat. His eyes are saucers now, their expressions of shock mirror each other in the glow of the street lights. “Come on, let’s go- let's go.” 

They slide into Rhett’s car not thirty seconds later, their wives already in the backseat. They're staring at each other intensely, hands connected between them. Rhett guesses their activities in the past few minutes were not dissimilar. 

“How was that one, huh?” Jessie taps Rhett’s arm. “Better?” 

"Yeah,” Rhett clears his throat. “I’d say so.”

“Me too,” Link says dazedly, finally figuring out what he's been searching for as he seeks out Rhett’s hand across the console. 


End file.
